"So what is the big deal about this person's funeral?" Oscar asked. "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but he was just the mailman."
The local mailman had died. Everyone in the neighborhood was shocked, upset, and arranging to go to the funeral.
Oscar couldn't understand it. Most of the time, the mailman delivered the mail when no one was home. And it wasn't like the mailman was related to anyone in the neighborhood by blood. Everyone was acting as though their own relative had died!
"Well, think about it," his father instructed him. "What did Mr. Farley mean to you?"
As he dressed for the funeral, Oscar thought. Well, it was true that Mr. Farley always smiled at him—a nice, big smile, showing all his teeth in a very friendly way. He flashed that smile all the way up and down the street as he delivered the mail.
Oscar remembered that one time when he was a very little boy, he was sitting outside on the steps with a broken toy airplane, crying. Mr. Farley had stooped down and looked at it.
"I think I can fix this for you," he said. "But it will take a special glue. Can I bring it home with me and deliver it to you tomorrow—fixed—when I bring the mail?"
Mr. Farley had been very careful the way he wrapped up the airplane and put it into his mail sack. Oscar didn't want him to take it—it was hard to trust that he would get it back—but his mom said it was all right, so he let it go.
The next day, Mr. Farley came up to their house and searched through his sack as if he were looking for the mail, like always.
"Let's see now," he said. "What do I have here for you? One water bill. One electric bill. A letter from your aunt. A newspaper advertisement. That's it… Oh, what's this?" He reached deeper into his sack and brought out the airplane, carefully boxed. "Open it," he suggested to Oscar.
Oscar opened the box—he felt as though he was getting a present—and there was his airplane, perfectly repaired and polished!
"Wow!" he said, making it fly through the air. "Thanks, Mr. Farley!"
That was years ago. Oscar never played with the airplane anymore, but it had been his favorite toy back then. He still had it.
That same day, Mr. Farley gave seeds from his wife's beautiful flower garden to Oscar's mother. She had thanked him warmly.
Mr. Farley's mail sack was kind of like a Santa Claus sack—he brought all kinds of little gifts in it for everyone in the neighborhood.
He remembered things, too. When Oscar's mother was worried about his grandmother's illness, Mr. Farley didn't just put the letter in the mailbox outside—he rang the doorbell.
"Letter from your mother," he said. "I hope the news is good. Anyway, I thought you might want to read it right away."
Remembering all this, Oscar told his dad, "You're right. When I think about it, Mr. Farley did a lot of nice things for us."
"Yes, he did. And he was like that to every family in this area. He did a lot of extra things for everyone—and yet he always got the mail here on time, and he almost never made any mistakes with the addresses. So you can imagine how much this neighborhood will miss him."
Oscar now stopped protesting about having to stand around at a funeral. In fact, during the service he almost started crying. Many memories of Mr. Farley's kindness came flooding over him. He realized he would miss him.
Everyone else in the neighborhood felt the same way.
"We are here to honor a man who was not all that unusual," said the preacher. "He was a mailman. He was an average person. And yet, he touched each one of our lives because of the simplest thing in the world: human kindness."
When the service was ended and the casket was lowered into the ground, each person took a flower and tossed it into the ground to go with Mr. Farley. When it was Oscar's turn, he went up to Mrs. Farley.
Oscar said, "Mrs. Farley—could I—could I put this in instead?"
Oscar brought forward the airplane he had played with as a very little boy. Mrs. Farley looked puzzled.
Oscar said, "He fixed it for me once when I was a little kid."
Mrs. Farley's eyes filled with tears. "Yes, he was always doing things like that for children. Yes, Oscar. Please put it in. I think he'd be very pleased that you remembered."
The people standing nearby smiled through their tears as Oscar put the airplane into the grave.
When Oscar took his place again next to his parents, his father whispered to him, "Thank you, Oscar. I see you understand very well what Mr. Farley was to all of us. Even if he was 'just a mailman.'" ~ ~ ~
We all dream of living in a better world—a world where there is peace, no crime, and where people are friends with and take care of one another. It can only be that way, though, if everyone in an area or community is kind to one another.
The story is about a man we might call a community-builder. By his kind and caring actions, he made a whole neighborhood a better place to live in.
Being a community-builder involves thinking about more than just our own needs. It means being aware of and thinking about others, as the mailman did.
We don’t start life thinking of those around us. A baby is not able to think of others. Babies cry when they are hungry, uncomfortable, or need to have their diaper changed. They sleep a large percentage of the time and are not aware of much around them.
As a baby grows, he becomes aware of his family. He smiles and laughs at familiar faces and may cry when a stranger picks him up. The family is the baby's first community! Eventually, a young child can help with simple chores, such as picking up toys or taking a plate away from the table. These things help the child be a good member of the small community of the family.
When a child is old enough to go to school, his or her community expands. Everyone has classmates and a teacher to be connected to. There are rules to follow, assignments to do, friends to play with in the yard, and relationships to work out. There may be opportunities to help others, such as cleaning up trash around the school or practicing a play or song for a school program.
As we grow, so does the size of our community. It is important that our awareness of others continues to grow as well. Parents, teachers, and others help us to expand our awareness by showing us kindness, setting a good example of helping others, asking us to help out around the home or school, asking us to apologize when we have been unkind, pointing out ways to help others, taking us to participate in a neighborhood service project, telling us stories of when they were young, and much more.
It takes a whole community to help with things like keeping the parks looking nice, making neighborhoods safe to walk in at night, keeping pollutants out of a local stream or lake, and making the town fundraiser for the local school a success. If everyone in a community helps out, a community becomes a wonderful place to live.
As you grow toward adulthood, you will realize that we live in a world community too. It has been said that if we reduced the whole world down to a community of one hundred people, only one of them would have gone to college, two of them would have most of the wealth, and most of them would be underfed and badly in need of medical attention. This is our human community. We need to help our community members.
Developing a sense of belonging to a community has already begun in you. You can help your community and feel more a part of it by practicing acts of kindness toward those around you—in your family, school, and neighborhood. Communities are as strong and good as the individuals within those communities. Help make your community one in which anyone would want to live!
Questions for reflection
1. Why did everyone like Mr. Farley so much?
2. Do you have someone like Mr. Farley in your neighborhood or community?
3. Would you like to be a person like Mr. Farley?
4. What do you do at home or at school to make the community better?
5. Have you ever cleaned up your neighborhood or park or gone door-to-door collecting money for a good cause? Did this make you feel more a part of your community?
6. What can you do to make your community better?
Exercise: "Community power!"
Let your teacher lead you in the exercise "Community power!" All students will line up facing one another's backs, forming a circle. Each student will place his or her hands on the shoulders of the student in front of him or her. Slowly and carefully, students will lower themselves by bending their knees. With enough trust and care, you will soon find yourselves all safely seated on the knees of the person behind you! This is the power of people helping each other. Everyone is taken care of!
Reflection exercise: “My community”
Remember that a community can be as small as a family and as large as the whole world. Everywhere in the world, communities celebrate or commemorate the following events. How does your community—whether it is family and friends or a whole village—mark the following big events:
The birth of a child
A wedding
When someone dies
Rites of passage (bar mitzvah, confirmation, puberty, etc.)
Oscar's Story
Table of Contents
"So what is the big deal about this person's funeral?" Oscar asked. "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but he was just the mailman."
The local mailman had died. Everyone in the neighborhood was shocked, upset, and arranging to go to the funeral.
Oscar couldn't understand it. Most of the time, the mailman delivered the mail when no one was home. And it wasn't like the mailman was related to anyone in the neighborhood by blood. Everyone was acting as though their own relative had died!
"Well, think about it," his father instructed him. "What did Mr. Farley mean to you?"
As he dressed for the funeral, Oscar thought. Well, it was true that Mr. Farley always smiled at him—a nice, big smile, showing all his teeth in a very friendly way. He flashed that smile all the way up and down the street as he delivered the mail.
Oscar remembered that one time when he was a very little boy, he was sitting outside on the steps with a broken toy airplane, crying. Mr. Farley had stooped down and looked at it.
"I think I can fix this for you," he said. "But it will take a special glue. Can I bring it home with me and deliver it to you tomorrow—fixed—when I bring the mail?"
Mr. Farley had been very careful the way he wrapped up the airplane and put it into his mail sack. Oscar didn't want him to take it—it was hard to trust that he would get it back—but his mom said it was all right, so he let it go.
The next day, Mr. Farley came up to their house and searched through his sack as if he were looking for the mail, like always.
"Let's see now," he said. "What do I have here for you? One water bill. One electric bill. A letter from your aunt. A newspaper advertisement. That's it… Oh, what's this?" He reached deeper into his sack and brought out the airplane, carefully boxed. "Open it," he suggested to Oscar.
Oscar opened the box—he felt as though he was getting a present—and there was his airplane, perfectly repaired and polished!
"Wow!" he said, making it fly through the air. "Thanks, Mr. Farley!"
That was years ago. Oscar never played with the airplane anymore, but it had been his favorite toy back then. He still had it.
That same day, Mr. Farley gave seeds from his wife's beautiful flower garden to Oscar's mother. She had thanked him warmly.
Mr. Farley's mail sack was kind of like a Santa Claus sack—he brought all kinds of little gifts in it for everyone in the neighborhood.
He remembered things, too. When Oscar's mother was worried about his grandmother's illness, Mr. Farley didn't just put the letter in the mailbox outside—he rang the doorbell.
"Letter from your mother," he said. "I hope the news is good. Anyway, I thought you might want to read it right away."
Remembering all this, Oscar told his dad, "You're right. When I think about it, Mr. Farley did a lot of nice things for us."
"Yes, he did. And he was like that to every family in this area. He did a lot of extra things for everyone—and yet he always got the mail here on time, and he almost never made any mistakes with the addresses. So you can imagine how much this neighborhood will miss him."
Oscar now stopped protesting about having to stand around at a funeral. In fact, during the service he almost started crying. Many memories of Mr. Farley's kindness came flooding over him. He realized he would miss him.
Everyone else in the neighborhood felt the same way.
"We are here to honor a man who was not all that unusual," said the preacher. "He was a mailman. He was an average person. And yet, he touched each one of our lives because of the simplest thing in the world: human kindness."
When the service was ended and the casket was lowered into the ground, each person took a flower and tossed it into the ground to go with Mr. Farley. When it was Oscar's turn, he went up to Mrs. Farley.
Oscar said, "Mrs. Farley—could I—could I put this in instead?"
Oscar brought forward the airplane he had played with as a very little boy. Mrs. Farley looked puzzled.
Oscar said, "He fixed it for me once when I was a little kid."
Mrs. Farley's eyes filled with tears. "Yes, he was always doing things like that for children. Yes, Oscar. Please put it in. I think he'd be very pleased that you remembered."
The people standing nearby smiled through their tears as Oscar put the airplane into the grave.
When Oscar took his place again next to his parents, his father whispered to him, "Thank you, Oscar. I see you understand very well what Mr. Farley was to all of us. Even if he was 'just a mailman.'"
~ ~ ~
We all dream of living in a better world—a world where there is peace, no crime, and where people are friends with and take care of one another. It can only be that way, though, if everyone in an area or community is kind to one another.
The story is about a man we might call a community-builder. By his kind and caring actions, he made a whole neighborhood a better place to live in.
Being a community-builder involves thinking about more than just our own needs. It means being aware of and thinking about others, as the mailman did.
We don’t start life thinking of those around us. A baby is not able to think of others. Babies cry when they are hungry, uncomfortable, or need to have their diaper changed. They sleep a large percentage of the time and are not aware of much around them.
As a baby grows, he becomes aware of his family. He smiles and laughs at familiar faces and may cry when a stranger picks him up. The family is the baby's first community! Eventually, a young child can help with simple chores, such as picking up toys or taking a plate away from the table. These things help the child be a good member of the small community of the family.
When a child is old enough to go to school, his or her community expands. Everyone has classmates and a teacher to be connected to. There are rules to follow, assignments to do, friends to play with in the yard, and relationships to work out. There may be opportunities to help others, such as cleaning up trash around the school or practicing a play or song for a school program.
As we grow, so does the size of our community. It is important that our awareness of others continues to grow as well. Parents, teachers, and others help us to expand our awareness by showing us kindness, setting a good example of helping others, asking us to help out around the home or school, asking us to apologize when we have been unkind, pointing out ways to help others, taking us to participate in a neighborhood service project, telling us stories of when they were young, and much more.
It takes a whole community to help with things like keeping the parks looking nice, making neighborhoods safe to walk in at night, keeping pollutants out of a local stream or lake, and making the town fundraiser for the local school a success. If everyone in a community helps out, a community becomes a wonderful place to live.
As you grow toward adulthood, you will realize that we live in a world community too. It has been said that if we reduced the whole world down to a community of one hundred people, only one of them would have gone to college, two of them would have most of the wealth, and most of them would be underfed and badly in need of medical attention. This is our human community. We need to help our community members.
Developing a sense of belonging to a community has already begun in you. You can help your community and feel more a part of it by practicing acts of kindness toward those around you—in your family, school, and neighborhood. Communities are as strong and good as the individuals within those communities. Help make your community one in which anyone would want to live!
Questions for reflection
1. Why did everyone like Mr. Farley so much?
2. Do you have someone like Mr. Farley in your neighborhood or community?
3. Would you like to be a person like Mr. Farley?
4. What do you do at home or at school to make the community better?
5. Have you ever cleaned up your neighborhood or park or gone door-to-door collecting money for a good cause? Did this make you feel more a part of your community?
6. What can you do to make your community better?
Exercise: "Community power!"
Let your teacher lead you in the exercise "Community power!" All students will line up facing one another's backs, forming a circle. Each student will place his or her hands on the shoulders of the student in front of him or her. Slowly and carefully, students will lower themselves by bending their knees. With enough trust and care, you will soon find yourselves all safely seated on the knees of the person behind you! This is the power of people helping each other. Everyone is taken care of!
Reflection exercise: “My community”
Remember that a community can be as small as a family and as large as the whole world. Everywhere in the world, communities celebrate or commemorate the following events. How does your community—whether it is family and friends or a whole village—mark the following big events: